Becoming: A Spark
by toughchick44
Summary: Entering a new home, a new school, a new life, Stella has a lot on her plate, but add that onto the ability to control electricity and teenage hormones and then throw her into a place where there are others like herself with some not being very nice, she'll have to learn to adapt quickly, especially with some creepy shadow following her. Things are bound to get interesting in Mesa.


**Hey everyone I know I haven't put anything up here in a while, it's becuase I've been trying to improve on my writing abilities and I hope that I've become better over the years. I can't even remember when I last updated. Hope you enjoy this, I have a bunch of ideas of what I want to do with these characters and it's not going to all be rainbows and sunshine, they are going to go through a lot of trials and some might not even make it through. My main purpose with this story is to ellicit a feeling or a reaction from you readers so if you wouldn't mind leaving a review or a like I would greatly appreciate it.**

**On to the story. Hope you like it.**

* * *

><p><em>"From a little spark may burst a flame." <em>- Dante Alighieri

Timmy sprinted into the kitchen quickly preceding his younger-by-twenty-three-seconds brother Andy and raced over to the fridge pulling open the door and hiding behind it while his brother threw the lemonade pitcher narrowly missing Timmy and causing the glass and liquid to splatter against the door. Timmy returned with slinging the wooden cutting board right back; Andy ducked and glared at his brother when he stood back up, preparing to throw the rack of plates from the dishwasher off of the island, but was stopped when their mother stormed into the room.

Having heard the noise from the basement where she had been turning off the washer and dryer, she had made quick work of the stairs afraid that someone had gotten into her house. Her worry was hastily turned into fury.

"Oh no." The two brothers spoke in unison their anger at each other rapidly receding when they saw their mother's expression.

_ They were__ so__ dead._

"What are you two doing?"

Most kids got scared when their parents yelled and screamed, the intensity of emotions and the loudness being too much but what scared the Yamada family the most when being admonished was when Rachel Yamada had no emotion in her voice at all and stared at the then victim(s) with her piercing brown eyes. Nothing made them cower faster than when she adapted her "you're dead" look.

"Well?" Her arms crossed and her hip cocked she looked about ready to strangle the two for destroying her kitchen. Timmy slinked further behind the fridge door and Andy made his way around the island putting the granite and wood between him and his mother.

"Andy was-"

"Timmy was-"

"I was just-"

"Nuh uh, you were-"

"What would you know you were-"

"Oh you are such a-"

"ENOUGH!" The twins snapped to attention. Rachel fixed them with a glare. "Now I don't care who or what started it, but you_ will_ be cleaning this mess up and neither of you are going to the science fair this weekend."

_"But mom_," They retorted.

"No buts, you have made a mess of a perfectly good kitchen, ruined the good mood for this morning, and have gone against your promise to never ever use your powers on each other.

"You two were gifted with telekinesis to do great things and using that gift to throw things at each other does not fit into the category of great things and if you forget, you two are linked physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in any other way possible. When you use your powers against each other in anger it weakens that bond and your powers." Her sons promptly looked at the ground, feeling the weight behind her words. She sighed. "Now, I know you both really want to go to the fair this weekend so I will give you probation for the moment. If you are good 'till the end of the week I will_ conside_r allowing you to go, but by being good that means in all aspects. No problems at school, with your sister, me or your father, your chores, etc., if you have any, then no more fair." She looked at both of her children seeing their eyes momentarily light up at the mention that they would still have a chance to have fun (at least fun in their opinion) this weekend.

"Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now get cleaning, no powers." The two jumped to the command, picking up shards of glass and grabbing the mop for the lemonade. She looked to the ceiling when the lights started to flicker on and off and the TV in the other room was consistently switching channels. "This better be done when I come back down. I have to go deal with your sister." She made her way to the main stairs wondering what had her second daughter in a mood_ thi_s morning.

Stella took a breath, her hands wringing together to keep the electrical pulses from jumping from her hand and into a local electronic and frying the item. She took five steps forward, stopped, turned right, and took another five steps before repeating the process, successfully making a small invisible box in the center of the open space in her room. She did this all with her eyes closed.

It was her coping process when her ability was on the fritz.

Literally.

She inhaled another deep breath and slowly let it out, subconsciously hearing her door opening and someone stepping through before setting the door closed again.

"Stella, are you alright?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be alright?" She continued her box making.

"Maybe because you're making everything electric in the house go haywire." Rachel took a good look at her daughter. "...and you're singeing your shirt." Stella opened her eyes and saw that she was in fact ruining the edges of her shirt.

"Ugh, why can't I get this under control, I've never had this much of a problem before." Stella walked into her closet and grabbed another shirt, changing into it before going back to her pacing, her now damaged shirt landing in her dirty clothes bin. Rachel watched her daughter with concern and knowing.

"Honey, you're fifteen, you're a young woman, and you're a freshman in high school. Of course your powers are going to be a bit overwhelming, you are about to go through the most stressful time of your life, add that onto raging hormones and your less than sunshine personality," she ignored the look Stella gave her, "you are going to experience a few... _malfunctions_."

"But mom, I'm going to be the new kid in school, a school, by the way, that is known more for it sports than its other electives and that I'm sure is like every movie depicted high school complete with the cliché jocks and cheerleaders that will bully and harass me until graduation. Then never recognize my accomplishments when I come back for the reunions and continue to think that they were better than me and on top of that-"

"Stella, breathe." Rachel stepped forward and rubbed her hands up and down Stella's arms hoping to soothe the teenager and stop her meaningless rambling. The light bulb in her bathroom had already shorted out with so much power running through the circuits; they didn't need that to be the whole house.

Once the brunette had been settled to the point that her body wasn't sending charges through her mother's hands (thank God for her regenerative healing power) Rachel spoke again never ceasing her calming motions.

"Now, would you like me to give you the bracelets?"

The bracelets in question being one of the few things that could withhold a Special's (people with abilities) powers when worn. They were used often when someone, such as Stella, was going through a period in their life when they were having a hard time keeping a lid on their powers; it was used mostly for teenagers and the rare Special that decided to use their powers for things less than savory, but those were a different model, more like handcuffs, and only in the possession of the Head Order agents.

Stella thought about it for a minute; she had worn them a handful of times before for occasions that were much worse than she was experiencing but that had also been when she was able to seclude herself in her house and not worry about anyone discovering her and her family by witnessing her quote unquote_ power_s. There aren't many in the world with her advantages but for the few that are, they had to abide by certain rules and exposing even one Special to the world could cause unthinkable consequences.

"No, I think I'll be fine. I'm a Yamada, right? We're always fine." Her mother smiled.

"That's right, but remember I'm only a call away if you need anything. Just think of me and I'll be there like that." Her mother snapped. Stella let a small smile form; her mother was always able to cheer her up, even if just a little bit. "Alright if I don't get you to school on time your grandmother will psychically slap me so let's go." Stella chuckled letting her mother lead her out of her room after she had grabbed her backpack and ID.

"Timmy, Andy, is the kitchen finished?" Stella arched an eyebrow giving the back of her mother's head a questioning look as they went down the stairs.

"What happened to the kitchen?" Her mother glanced at her over her shoulder.

"Don't ask." Stella held back a smile at the annoyance in her mother's tone. If she knew her brothers, and she liked to think that she did, then they had done something completely inappropriate and it involved their powers.

"Yes mom." They replied coming into the foyer with their backpacks already on and lunch bags in their hands. Seeing her kid brothers relaxed her and helped lessen her temper so the circuits around her weren't busting and she didn't feel like her skin was covered in tiny sparks; the feeling having been started by Rachel's wise words and comforting gestures. If this kind of atmosphere stayed up she would be perfectly fine by the time she got to school, maybe a little on edge but she wouldn't be shocking everyone she touched.

"Ok my little ducklings grab my hands and hold on tight." Stella just squeezed the hand that she already had grasped and watched as her brothers reluctantly held hands before Andy grabbed their mom's other hand.

A faint blue glow surrounded them all until a sucking sound enveloped them and then they popped out of existence.

Stella and Rachel appeared next to one of the many cars parked in the school parking lot, most of the students were already in front of the building so there was no one to witness her mother's extraordinary power. Stella absolutely loved Rachel's transportation ability seeing as how she would be able to do a variation of it later on in life; it was known that for someone with Stella's electric manipulation ability that they would eventually master the power to jump from one circuit to another and come out of one on the other side of the world just by using the power lines and currents of electricity running through the globe.

Stella looked away from her mother fixing her rumpled suit jacket and towards the school that she would be attending for the next couple of months, if not the rest of her high school career. It was an immaculate building; complete with fresh and recently mowed green grass that made the image of the school that much brighter, along with the up-to-date appliances, and lack of any wear and tear on the building. Anyone would take one look at the school and think that it must be an astounding establishment. Stella looked at it and saw her prison; she had been home schooled before their move so she wasn't exactly the nicest person to her peers, having never been around enough of them that wasn't a self-centered Special.

"Alright then," Stella turned back to Rachel, forcing herself not to show the clear panic rushing through her. However it seemed her mother knew her better than she thought. "Don't worry sweetie, you will do great. Plus, since I sensed your uncertainty back at the house I slipped the bracelets into your backpack if you feel that it is too dangerous for the people around you."

Stella stared at her mother in awe.

"You're the best, you know that?"

Rachel smiled. "So I've been told." She pulled her daughter in for a hug. "I love you and good luck." One second Rachel was there and the next Stella was hugging air.

"I _hate_ it when she does that." Stella groaned.

The bell rang. Stella ran inside to the front office unawares of the shadow lingering on the walkway in front of the school.

A shadow without an owner.

"Here is your class schedule, you already have your ID, and I'll have an office aid show you to your first class. Your teachers should give you directions to the rest of your classes." Stella looked at the paper in her hands glancing over her courses glad when she saw that her free period was first thing.

"Um, quick question," the portly secretary with bright pink glasses looked away from her home furniture magazine, her eyes conveying how annoyed she was with being interrupted. "You don't happen to know how many electrical outputs this school has do you? I swear it has nothing the do with my cell phone." The secretary didn't seem to believe her but responded anyway.

"Why would you want to know something like that?"

"Humor me. Please."

"No, I don't know." Stella bit her lip, she'd expected that but it didn't hurt to try.

"157." Stella turned her head seeing long blonde hair pulled into a pony tail and a body incased in, what Stella assumed, the school's cheerleading uniform.

"What?" The girl smiled, her hair swinging side to side as she made her way towards Stella.

"There are 157 electrical outputs in the school." The corner of Stella's mouth twitched.

"H-how do you know that?" The cheerleader stopped next to Stella and leaned against the secretary's desk.

"I've always been able to know certain things when asked. Just one of the weird quirks everyone has I guess."

"Yeah," Stella huffed.

The girl held out her hand. "I'm Jules Blake." Stella looked at the hand offered to her unsure as to what to do; she didn't want to shock the poor girl.

"Stella Yamada and I don't really..." Stella pointed to Jules' hand.

"Germaphobe?" Jules dropped her hand, an understanding in her eyes that Stella was grateful for.

"No I just," Stella didn't know what to say.

"It's ok, _Stella_."

"Thanks, _Jules_." Stella chuckled. "So I'm guessing you're going to be leading me around."

Jules nodded. "Let me see your schedule." Stella handed it over careful to not touch her. She didn't want to take any chances. Plus something was stirring in her stomach telling her that something was off with Jules. "Oh ok, you have a pretty easy set this year, especially for a freshman. Let's go." Jules smiled.

_She does a lot of that._

Taking a seat in the back of the library, Stella saw that there were a few others sitting around at various places, some not even at a table. She dumped her bag onto the nearest chair and headed for the fiction section.

She liked stories of faraway places and magical items, it just appealed to her. She wasn't sure if it was because she herself was something "magical" or that things always seemed better in the books because she could always come back to a certain part and relive that moment over and over again or she could just skip a part; she could travel through time without ever having to move.

Pulling her head out of her own thoughts she browsed the shelves seeing different titles and covers. She was so absorbed in a book, reading the summary on the inside flap that she didn't notice the person looking at her from the other side of the shelf, the opening that had been left by the lack of books big enough that Stella's face could be seen completely as well as the face of the person watching.

Stella closed the book and looked up.

"Oh my god." Stella clutched at her chest and closed her eyes, struggling to calm her rapid heartbeat. When she opened her eyes again she got a good look at the person who had scared her heart to stop beating for a second. "_Oh__.__ my__._**god**. Scott?" He smirked at her confusion, coming around the shelf and into her aisle.

"Two months and you forget who I am? I thought I was a bit more important than that." Stella smiled, running to the tall teen and jumped into his awaiting arms wrapping her own around his neck while his went around her waist holding her almost a foot above the ground.

"I didn't know you went here."

"I told you I lived in New Mexico." She pulled away but was still being held up.

"Yeah but you never said Mesa." Scott looked at the smile adorning his friend's face.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." She punched his shoulder causing him to drop her to the ground; she smirked while he sent a glare at her. "What was that for?"

"For scaring me and dating that Jules girl; she's nice and all but a bit too perky for me." He grimaced.

"You figured that out already?" Stella gave him a look that said "you think I'm that oblivious, really".

"She was wearing _your _bracelet that I made for you when I was nine. You know the one you said you would only give to the person you were in love with." Scott looked towards the ground rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Yeah..."

"So, you're in love and you never told me about her or is she one in a long list of 'please date me because I need arm candy so I'll tell you I love you and give you something to show that love' that you didn't have enough balls to tell me about." Stella cocked her hip and crossed her arms giving Scott her patented no nonsense glare that she had perfected over the years and used on Scott when she was berating him.

"She knows."

"She knows." Stella deadpanned.

"...and she's also a Special." Stella scoffed.

"I figured that out with how many times she tried to touch me. She's an Omni isn't she?" Scott nodded.

"She also has superhuman senses."

She groaned. "Great that means she _sniffed_ me and to think I was actually going to be her friend." Scott raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" Stella looked at him confused.

"Yeah, why?"

"You've just never really clicked with the whole popular crowd especially since you've never went to school."

"I hang out with _you_ don't I? You're part of the popular crowd."

"Yeah but that's because we've known each other since diapers and our families have known each other for centuries." Stella rolled her eyes, her joyous atmosphere dropping.

"You make it sound like we're vampires or some royal family. Which we are not."

"Well," Scott tipped his head. "Technically we are." The atmosphere was lost completely.

"No we aren't." Stella said over her shoulder as she walked back to her table with Scott following.

"Why do you always have such a problem with that? I mean our families are some of the most important in our world and we get treated as such. Our ancestors earned that for us and we should be grateful."

Stella didn't respond just sat in the seat next to the one with her bag in it and opened the book she still had in her hand. Scott watched her, waiting her out until she finally decided to stop being a brat.

"Stell."

"What?" She flipped a page roughly.

"You're sparking." Stella pulled her hands away from the book and watched the blue sparks jump from finger to finger. She groaned and dropped her head.

"I don't get it; I've never been this out of control."

"Do you have the bracelets?" Stella fisted her hands and held up her head with them while her elbows rested on the table.

"Yeah," she sighed, "they're in my bag."

"You want me to get them?" Stella looked up giving her friend a little smile, dropping her hands.

"No, I'm just stressed out. If I can keep my temper at a low I'll be able to keep the zapping to a minimum." Scott chuckled.

At Stella's raised eyebrow he explained himself. "You and low temper don't exactly get along; you have a worse temper than Fluffy."

"That's because Fluffy is an old and bald cat that is misnamed and doesn't like anyone but your father touching her."

"My point exactly." Her eyes turned into slits.

"Don't make me zap you." Scott chuckled but dropped the subject. They heard a faint vibration and Stella watched as Scott pulled out his phone. A wide smile suddenly broke out over his face. Stella had never seen him smile like that.

"Who is it?" She doubted it was Jules. With Scott's earlier behavior when talking about her it didn't seem like he had any adoration or love for her, the kind of which looked to be in her friend's eyes now.

Scott's head shot up, confusion written on his features.

"What?" Stella pointed to the phone. "Oh, um, just someone I've been talking to recently." Stella raised an eyebrow, hoping he would continue. "It's nobody really." Scott looked down, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. There were only a handful of times Stella had seen Scott bashful.

"Come on Scott; if you can't tell me who this mystery person is who can you tell?" Stella softly cajoled him, placing a gentle hand on his arm careful to keep the electricity held back. He seemed to contemplate telling her looking between the screen of the phone and her friendly smile. He gave in when he saw the softness resting in her chestnut eyes.

"Ok, but promise me you won't mention it to anyone. Not even your mom or my parents ok? This really isn't any of their business."

"You got it." Scott took a deep breath before explaining.

"It's kind of complicated. First off, and don't get mad, I don't know who this guy is and he doesn't know who I am, at least I don't think we do." Scott muttered the last part, his thoughts straying.

"It's a guy?" Stella tried not to squeal in delight and she wasn't even a squealer! But Scott finally accepting what Stella had known for years was a big step from his internalized homophobia from when they were younger and he was terrified of who he was.

"Yeah," Scott dropped his head, a gooey smile crossing his lips.

"Aww."

"Shut up." He said with no heat behind it.

"My Scottie is growing up." Stella said, her voice notching up a few octaves. Scott sent her a look from under his lashes.

"Stop that or I won't finish telling you." Stella had to force herself not to keep smiling like an idiot. When he was sure she wasn't going to turn into a mushy blob again he went on. "We've been talking for about three months."

"Why didn't you tell me about him over the summer?"

"We were surrounded by our parents and bunches of Specials that would have just loved to tell the Pickett's that their son was gay and watch as they disowned me, cutting off any heir and dishonoring our family." Stella made a silent "oh".

"Yeah,"

"How'd you two..."

"Meet?"

"Yeah."

"Believe it or not, because of you."

"Really?" Stella's smile widened.

"Yeah, well indirectly, remember when we had gone to that ball for the Gathering and you had the good idea to tell them we should do masks?"

"I was being sarcastic." Stella gasped with realization. "You so had a Cinderella moment!" Scott placed his hand over her mouth effectively cutting off her squeal. She only ever got like this with him, around anyone else she wouldn't be acting like a thirteen year old with a crush on Justin Beiber.

She pushed off his hand. "You met this dude there? That means he's a Special too. This is so cool!" Scott smiled, happy that his friend was being supportive. Like he expected anything else. "So, the both of you don't know what the other really looks like except for some small features and have been texting each other for three months. That's so cute. So when are you two going to meet up again?" Scotts smile immediately dropped.

"Who says we're going to meet again?"

"_Wwweeell_, for one, I've haven't seen you this happy since you found out you could breathe fire," Scott nodded his head in acquiesce, "and you deserve to be happy, even if it makes your family upset." Scott smiled; glad he had a friend like Stella. "What are you afraid of?"

"What makes you-" He cut himself off, knowing that denying it would just annoy her and their conversation would continue later on in the future. As much as she was his best friend, it was still hard to admit some of his deepest fears and darkest secrets.

"Scott, being who you are is not a problem or a mistake, yes your family is determined to have a long lasting bloodline, but they are still your family and I've known them since birth. If they are the people I think they are then they will love you and cherish you all the same; although, if you don't want to admit it just yet, you still need to have a love life and that means meeting up with this mystery guy and seeing where it goes." Scott chuckled humorlessly, the corner of his lips quirking.

"I hate it when you're right." Stella smirked triumphantly.

"I know. So are you going to listen to me and set up a meeting time or what?" Scott looked down at his phone, seeing another message.

_Are you okay?_

Those three words made him smile, those three words were typed because he had failed to respond to an earlier text and his mystery guy was worried.

Scott sighed. "I need a bit more time; I'll tell you when I decide to." He quickly said when he saw her mouth open to say just that. "But for now, I just need to keep things the way they are until I can muck up the courage."

"Not to be a downer, but, um, what about Jules?"

"Oh Jules and me aren't really in a relationship. She likes girls, I like boys. She wasn't _just_ trying to read you." Stella laughed, her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh my god." It took a moment but she composed herself, looking at her dearest friend. "So, mutually assured sexuality protection?" Scott smirked.

"Something like that."

Stella sighed with relief when the bell rang and she could finally go to lunch; she hadn't had any breakfast and she was _starving_.

Her fourth period classmates quickly made their way out of the room while she waited until the door wasn't so clogged with bodies. Personal space was a big thing with her (partly because of her power and another part because she just wasn't a fan of people being in her breathing space) and when she saw that they were all gone she slipped out of her seat and grabbed her bag.

_Thud._

"You have got to be kidding me." Stella turned, confused. She could have sworn she was the only one still in the room, even the teacher had left to do something. However it seemed like someone else had decided to stay behind, not wanting to be crushed against numerous other bodies either and that person was currently picking up all of their stuff off of the floor. Stella moved toward the person, their gender and features being hidden under a red hoodie.

"Here." Stella crouched and handed the person a journal. They looked up.

Hesitantly they took the proffered item. "Thanks."

"No problem." Stella continued to help the kid who she now knew was a boy with shoulder length brown hair and a pair of the most amazing eyes she had seen, she could see almost every color sparkling in those brown orbs.

"So why'd you stay behind?" She asked once all of his stuff was back in his strange metal backpack and they were making their way to the exit.

"Uh, I-I fell asleep. The bell woke me up."

"Oh." He wrung his hands together nervously, sweat building on his forehead. She wanted to place a hand on his shoulder in comfort but he was already walking away muttering things to himself, almost like he was talking to someone else.

"Well that wasn't strange _at all_."

Stella walked through the hallway trying to remember where Jules had told her the cafeteria was.

The shadow followed her, its darkness covering the bright blue lockers.

Stella sat down at the nearest table she could find that wasn't surrounded by hordes of people and dug into her lunch. For the most part she was perfectly fine just sitting there while everyone else talked to their friends, she liked being by herself, plus Scott was off at another table charming his jock friends and admiring cheerleaders. They had nodded a hello to each other earlier when she'd entered the room; Jules had waved as well, Stella had been pleasantly surprised, not expecting the gesture from someone who was in the class of social status she was.

She also didn't expect to be blinded suddenly by a flash.

"What the-"

"That was a good one." After she was done rubbing the light out of her eyes and she blinked away the wandering colors she looked towards the person who had blinded her.

Later on, she would say she wasn't as astounded by his appearance as she actually was. The guy was absolutely _gorgeous_. Blonde, spiked hair, tanned face-

_And__ look at that__ body!_

Focus Stella!

_But look at those arms and you can _just _see the outline of that six pack!_

Shush!

-and the bluest eyes.

She had believed that the brunette guy from earlier had cool eyes but this guy was well endowed with the prettiest eyes. They were definitely blue but it looked like they had some sea green in them and that just added to his appeal.

"Wha-what..." The guy looked up from the camera in his hands, the black device being held at face height.

"Sorry, didn't know the flash was on, but it actually made the picture turn out better; it looks like you're surrounded by a blue glow. It's quite beautiful." He slipped himself into the seat across from her a charming smile on his face. She felt like she was melting.

"Why did you take a picture of me?"

"Project." He answered simply.

"What was the assignment? See how many people you can blind?" He chuckled.

"No."

"What is it then?" He smirked. "Not going to tell me?" He shook his head. "Figures."

"What does?"

"Someone like you annoying someone like me."

"Someone like me?" He leaned forward pulling himself off of the back of the chair and resting his elbows on the table.

"Yeah, letterman jacket, top of the line sneakers, society standard prettiness, I could go on." His smirk turned into a smile.

"I like you." He wagged his finger at her. "What's your name?" She leaned back in her seat giving him the same smirk he had given her. "Not going to tell me?" She shook her head. "Figures." She laughed, pulling herself forward again so she could finish her food.

"Well it seems you haven't killed each other yet, that's a plus." She saw Scott walk up to them from behind the blonde, the blonde didn't look away from her.

"What's her name Scott?"

"Don't answer that Scottie."

They stared each other down. Scott looked between the two, studying them.

Ray's eyes were calculating, looking for something inside her while Stella examined his face seeing something that pleased her.

Scott rolled his eyes. _Oh no_.

"Ray meet Stella—Stella meet Ray."

_"Scott!"_They groaned, annoyed.

"I was getting tired of the silence, now stop having eye sex, I'd like to talk to my best friends." Scott took a seat. Ray cleared his throat leaning back. Stella looked down fighting off a blush. "Seeing as you both know that the other knows me why don't you two get to know each other by using me as a starting point."

"Kindergarten."

"Family."

"_O_k."

The silence permeated the air again but this time Ray and Stella were pulled into the awkwardness. Scott's phone vibrated.

"Oh thank God." Seeing the looks he was getting from his friends from the corner of his eye he fixed them with a glare. "You two play nice." He went back to his phone, rapidly texting.

"You know about his little text buddy?" Ray asked Stella, his smug and contentment from earlier completely gone; Scott was harping on his moves.

"_Oh_ yeah."

"It's annoying isn't it?"

"Sounds a bit sweet to me."

"Not when he talks your ear off about the guy when you're trying to play _Halo_."

"Oh, _yeah_." Ray's lips quirked. A girl who knew video games. _Sweet_.

"You play?"

"Yep, beat Scott all the time over the summer." She ignored the scoff from the person being insulted; apparently he was still aware enough to know they were talking about him.

"Maybe I'll have to challenge you on that." He leaned forward again, his eyes taking on that intimidating gaze while his mouth turned into a broader smirk. She knew what he was doing. He knew that she knew what he was doing. She leaned forward herself and delivered her own smirk his way.

"Maybe you will." Both could feel the atmosphere around them, like it was electrically charged with whatever they were feeling. With Stella, it probably could be charged, but for the first time in the whole morning she wasn't thinking about her powers or worrying about anything. She was completely relaxed and it was freeing.

It didn't last long.

"_Screechhhhhhh_!" Both jumped back, surprised by the sudden whining sound permeating their ears. Even Scott was startled, he almost fell back out of his seat if it wasn't for Ray and Stella who each reached out and grabbed a leg of his chair suspending him in the air and quickly pulling him back to the ground.

"What was that?" The three of them turned towards the noise and none or them liked what they saw.

It was that kid Stella had helped with his books and he was currently being bombarded by a pair of jocks. They had pulled the chair he was sitting in away from the table and were getting up in the boy's face. The poor kid was just looking down at his lap and turning his face away from the jock that was in front of him and most likely calling him every name in the book. Stella wasn't going to stand for that.

"Oh no." Scott said as he watched Stella get up from the table and make her way over to the commotion. He had been about to do the same thing and get his "friends" to back off resolving the situation peacefully but now that Stella got involved it was going to be an explosion. Scott and Ray followed after the spitfire.

"C'mon Delgado, look me in the eyes and tell me you're not a faggot. It shouldn't be that hard." The voice sounded sincere but the message was clear. Stella's frown deepened and her anger increased.

"Is there something wrong here boys?" Stella asked, arms crossed and hip cocked. They looked at her like she was stupid.

"Yeah, you, intruding on our conversation." The other one spoke up, she saw the name blazoned on his letterman jacket; it said Jones.

"Well, when you're picking on someone I have the right to intervene." She would not be deterred, she could not stand bullying in any sense of the word and she wasn't going to stand on the sidelines as it happened. The one sitting stood up and she saw his name as well: Deaks.

"And what are you going to do about it darlin'?" Deaks asked towering over her by a good foot. She really wished she could zap him.

"She's not the one you should be worrying about." Scott and Ray stepped up behind her, their presence exuding intimidation. The Deaks and Jones recognized who was talking to them and quickly scampered off. The kid scooted forward so he was back into his original spot at the vacant table.

"You ok Delgado?" Ray asked squatting next to the brunette and placing a hand on his forearm. Delgado nodded his head sending a grateful smile in Ray's direction before he closed his eyes and brought a hand to his forehead seeming to have developed a headache.

"Remember, you can block them out, you just have to find something to ground you; memories, smells, tastes, anything."

"Got it." Delgado said with a grunt. Ray stood and addressed Scott.

"Stay with him, keep him busy it'll help with the voices."

"Yeah absolutely." Her friend immediately agreed taking a seat across from Delgado. Stella was very confused.

"Visions?" Her brain caught up. "He's a Special?" Ray and Delgado looked at her with alarm.

"You know what a Special is?" The blonde asked. She looked towards Scott, checking with him to see if it was ok to talk about what they were about to discuss. He nodded.

"I _am _a Special." The two looked to be processing that.

"Wait, _this_ is the girl you told me about?" Ray asked Scott.

"Told you about' - what do you mean told about? You know what forget that, why do_you _ know what a Special is?"

"I'm one too." Stella looked between the three alarmed. She had never known so many Specials to be in one place besides when they all gathered together on the Head Order's demands.

"Guys, we really shouldn't be discussing this here." Scott advised them pointedly looking around at their surroundings reminding them that they were around Ordinaries.

"You're right, we can talk about this later today." Ray agreed, grabbing Delgado's bag and helping him out of his chair intent on taking him to his next class, they didn't need him to have a seizure on the way and no one be around to help in time.

"Wait, one more thing. I have to know." The three exchanged a look, one they seemed to use quiet a lot with how familiar they were with it. Ray nodded his head for her to continue. "Ok, there's us four and then Jules," she made sure to keep her voice low, "is there anyone else at this school that's a Special?"

"Just one. Her name's Olivia White."


End file.
